Pontibacillus marinus sp. nov., a moderately halophilic bacterium from a solar saltern, and emended description of the genus Pontibacillus

Abstract

A moderately halophilic, Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium (BH030004T) was isolated from a solar saltern in Korea. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain BH030004T belonged to the genus Pontibacillus. Chemotaxonomic data (DNA G+C content, 42 mol%; major isoprenoid quinone, MK-7; cell-wall type, A1γ-type meso-diaminopimelic acid; major fatty acids, iso-C15 : 0 and anteiso-C15 : 0) also supported the affiliation of the isolate to the genus Pontibacillus. Although the 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain BH030004T and Pontibacillus chungwhensis DSM 16287T was relatively high (99·1 %), physiological properties and DNA–DNA hybridization (about 7 % DNA–DNA relatedness) allowed genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain BH030004T from the type strain of P. chungwhensis. Therefore, strain BH030004T represents a novel species of the genus Pontibacillus, for which the name Pontibacillus marinus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is BH030004T (=KCTC 3917T=DSM 16465T).